The Camp Fire Girls at Camp Keewaydin - Or, Paddles Down

Hildegard G. (Hildegard Gertrude) Frey

Informations

• Publié par: naseng
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 33
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Campfire Girls
at Camp Keewaydin, by Hildegard G. Frey
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at
no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever.
You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the
terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: The Campfire Girls at Camp Keewaydin
Author: Hildegard G. Frey
Release Date: January 11, 2004 [eBook #10688]
Language: English
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG
EBOOK THE CAMPFIRE GIRLS AT CAMP
KEEWAYDIN***
E-text prepared by Dave Morgan and Project
Gutenberg Distributed ProofreadersThe Camp Fire Girls At Camp Keewaydin
Or, Down Paddles
By Hildegard G. Frey
CHAPTER I
ON THE WAY
"All aboard!" The hoarse voice of Captain
MacLaren boomed out like a fog horn, waking a
clatter of echoes among the tall cliffs on the
opposite shore of the river, and sending the
seventy-five girls on the dock all skurrying for the
Carribou's gangplank at once.
"Hurry up, Hinpoha! We're getting left behind."
Agony strained forward on the suitcase she was
helping Hinpoha to carry down the hill and
endeavored to catch up with the crowd, a
proceeding which she soon acknowledged to be
impossible, for Hinpoha, rendered breathless bythe hasty scramble from the train, lagged farther
behind with every step.
"I—can't—go—any—faster!" she panted, and
abruptly let go of her end of the suitcase to fan
herself with her hand. "What's the use of rushing
so, anyway?" she demanded plaintively. "They
won't go off without us; they can see us coming
down the hill. It wasn't my fault that my camera got
wedged under the seat and made us be the last
ones off the train," she continued, "and I'm not
going to run down this hill and go sprawling, like I
did in the elevator yesterday. Are the other girls on
already?" she asked, searching the crowd below
with her eyes for a sight of the other Winnebagos.
"Sahwah and Oh-Pshaw are on the boat already,"
replied Agony, "and Gladys and Migwan are just
getting on. I don't see Katherine anywhere,
however. Oh, yes," she exclaimed, "there she is
down there in the crowd. What are they all laughing
at, I wonder? Oh, look, Katherine's suitcase has
come open, and all her things are spilled out on the
dock. I thought it would be strange if she made the
trip without some kind of a mishap. Oh, dear, did
you ever see anyone so funny as Katherine?"
"Well," observed Hinpoha in a tone of relief, "we
don't have to hurry now. It'll take them at least ten
minutes to get that suitcase shut again. I know,
because I helped Katherine pack. I had to sit on it
with all my might to close it."
"All Aboard!" came the second warning roar fromCaptain MacLaren, accompanied by a deafening
blast of the Carribou's whistle. Agony picked up
Hinpoha's suitcase in one hand and her own in the
other, and with an urgent "Come on!" made a dash
down the remainder of the hill and landed
breathless at the gangplank of the waiting steamer
just as the engine began to quiver into motion.
Hinpoha was just behind her, and Katherine trod
closely upon Hinpoha's heels, carrying her still
unclosed suitcase out before her like a tray, to
keep its contents from spilling out.
Migwan was waiting for them at the head of the
gangplank. "We've saved a place for you up in the
bow," she said. "Hurry up, we're having such a
time holding it for you. The boat is simply packed."
The four girls picked their way through a litter of
suitcases, paddles, cameras, tennis rackets and
musical instruments that covered every inch of
deck space between the chairs, and joined the
other Winnebagos in their place in the bow.
Hinpoha sank down gratefully upon a deck chair
that Oh-Pshaw had obligingly been holding for her
and Agony disposed herself upon a pile of
suitcases, from which vantage point she could get
a good look at the crowd.
The Carribou had turned her nose about and was
gliding smoothly upstream, following the random
curvings of the lazy Onawanda as it wound through
the low-lying, wooded hills of the Shenandawah
country, singing a carefree wanderer's song as it
flowed. It was a glorious, balmy day in late June,dazzlingly blue and white, sparklingly golden. It was
the Carribou's big day of the year, that last day of
June. On all other days she made her run
demurely from Lower Falls Station to Upper Falls,
carrying freight and a handful of passengers on
each trip; but every year on that last day of June
freight and ordinary passengers stood aside, for
the Carribou was chartered to carry the girls of
Camp Keewaydin to their summer hunting
grounds.
The Winnebagos looked around with interest at the
girls who were to be their companions for the
summer, all as yet total strangers to them. Girls of
every shape and size, of every shade of
complexion, of every age between sixteen and
twenty. A number were apparently "old girls," who
had been at Camp Keewaydin in former years;
they flocked together in the bow right behind the
Winnebagos, chattering animatedly, singing
snatches of camp songs, and uttering conjectures
in regard to such things as whether they would be
in the Alley or the Avenue; and who was going to
be councilor in All Saints this year.
A number of these old girls were grouped in an
adoring attitude around a pretty young woman who
talked constantly in an animated tone, and at
intervals strummed on a ukulele. Continual cries of
"Pom-pom!" rose on the air from the circle
surrounding her. It was "Dear Pom-pom," "Pom-
pom, you angel," "O darling Pom-pom! Can't you
fix it so that I can be in your tent this year?" and
much more in the same strain."Pom-pom is holding her court again this year, I
see," said a biting voice just behind Agony.
Agony maneuvered herself around on her perch
and glanced down at the speaker. She was a
decidedly plain girl with a thick nose and a wide
mouth set in a grim line above an extraordinarily
heavy chin. Her face was turned partly away as
she spoke to the girl next to her, but Agony caught
a glimpse of the sarcastic expression which
informed her features, and a little chill of dislike
went through her. Agony was extremely
susceptible to first impressions of people.
The girl addressed made an inaudible reply and the
first girl continued in low but emphatic tones, "Well,
you won't catch me fetching and carrying for her
and playing the part of the adoring slave, I can tell
you. I think it's perfectly silly, the way the girls all
get a crush on her."
There was a pause, and then the other girl asked,
somewhat hastily, "Who do you suppose will get
the Buffalo Robe this year?"
"Oh, Mary Sylvester will, of course," came the
reply. "She nearly got it last year. Now that Peggy
Atterbury isn't coming back Mary'll be the most
popular girl in camp without a doubt. Look at her
over there, trying to be sweet to Pom-pom."
"Isn't she stunning in that coral silk sweater?"
murmured the other girl."She has too much color to wear that shade of
pink," returned the sarcastic one.
Agony's eyes traveled over to the group
surrounding Pom-pom and rested upon the girl
who, next to Pom-pom herself, was the center of
the group. She was very much like Agony herself,
with intensely black hair, snow white forehead and
richly red lips, though a little slighter in build and
somewhat taller. A frank friendliness beamed from
her clear dark eyes and her smile was warm and
sincere. Agony felt drawn to her and jealous of her
at the same time. The most popular girl in camp.
That was the title Agony coveted with all her soul.
To be prominent; to be popular, was Agony's chief
aim in life; and to be pointed out in a crowd as the
most popular girl seemed the one thing in the world
most desirable to her. She, too, would be
prominent and popular, she resolved; she, too,
would be pointed out in the crowd.
The sarcastic voice again broke in upon her
reverie. "Have you seen the hippopotamus over
there in the bow? I should think a girl would be
ashamed to get that stout."
Agony glanced apprehensively at Hinpoha, who
was staring straight out over the water, but whose
crimson face betrayed only too plainly that she had
heard the remark. The rest of the Winnebagos had
undoubtedly heard it also, as well as a number of
others rubbing elbows with them, for a sudden
embarrassed silence fell over that corner of the
boat and a dozen pairs of eyes glanced fromHinpoha to the speaker, who, not one whit
abashed, continued to stare scornfully at the object
of her ridicule.
"Of all the bad manners!" said Agony to Sahwah in
an indignant undertone, which, with the
characteristic penetrating quality of Agony's voice,
carried perfectly to the ears of the girl behind her.
A light, satirical laugh was the reply. Agony turned
to bestow a withering glance upon this rude